If I Die Young
by Kokailo
Summary: Summary: Leah Gilbert, the twin sister of Elena Gilbert died in the car crash along with her parents, the only difference is: She came back alive. But how does she keep this hidden from her sister? And how did she survive?
1. Not the only vampire in town

_**If I Die Young**_

**Chapter 1: Not the only vampire in town**

_**Summary: **Leah Gilbert, the twin sister of Elena Gilbert died in the car crash along with her parents, the only difference is: She came back alive. But how does she keep this hidden from her sister? And how did she survive? _

_**A/N: **This takes place at season 1. **Also, I don't own anything except for my OC. Any grammatical mistakes are mine. **_

The warm liquid traveled through her throat, and with the little self control she had, she disconnected her lips from the girl's neck, her fangs retreating. She kept close eye contact with the red-haired girl with a pair of beautiful green eyes, "You will forget what just happened, now leave." Her delicate voice spoke and the girl nodded, walking in the opposite way. The school bell rang and she wiped her mouth clean and walked inside. "Leah!" She heard from behind her, a similar voice and she turned around. She was met with the sight of Elena Gilbert, her twin sister. Truth to be told, she hated to be her twin sister. Not because she didn't like Elena, it's just because of the endless questions. People who kept asking if they're twins, like the answer isn't obvious, or people who kept miscalling them. They might have looked the same, but they weren't – not the least bit. That's why Leah had changed herself up a bit, her once straight brown hair had now a nice little wave, and the ends of her hair was dyed blonde.

Since the car crash of her parents, she had changed. In all kind of ways. It had been tough, not only to lose your parents, but also to lose yourself. The only difference was, that she came back. Not quite living, but she still breathed nonetheless. It had been ever harder to figure out how she survived, and when she had a sudden urge for blood, things got even weirder. Now, it had been nearly seven months since the accident, and she had learned a thing or two. For starters, she was a vampire. She now craved blood, and it was both the worst and the best thing ever. With her new abilities, she could do so much more. Run faster, hear better, make people do things, but the constant craving for blood was a never ending battle. The first few weeks had been extra difficult, she had nearly killed her own family, not being able to control her urges. Yet, she managed to run away before she could lay a hand on them, she had to make Jeremy – her little brother – forget though, because he had been the only one who had seen her face.

"Leah?" The voice snapped her out of her thoughts and brought her back to the present. "Why did you leave so early this morning?" Elena questioned, her innocent eyes staring at her. Leah just shrugged her shoulders casually, "Didn't feel like waiting for you." She replied simply. To any outsider that might have been a hint of a bad relationship with your sister, but Elena knew better. She knew that that was how Leah was. Leah had never been the type to get close to someone, be friendly or as caring as her sister was. That was another thing that they differed in. Elena sighed but nodded her head in understanding, "Stefan – my boyfriend I told you about – is coming over for dinner tonight, he would really like to meet you. I would like you to meet him." She said and Leah groaned, she didn't feel like meeting her sister's boyfriends. It wasn't really necessary in her opinion. At some point, they would break up anyway and then she would've wasted her time trying to get to know him. Yeah, it was safe to say that Leah hadn't much faith in relationships – or boys to say the least. Her last boyfriend had cheated on her with her best friend, ever since she hadn't trust a single guy.

"Come on, Leah. Do it for me, please?" Elena begged and tried to give her a cute, convincing smile. Leah just rolled her eyes, she figured that Elena would've known by now that it didn't work for her, but she appreciated the effort. So with a sigh she agreed to come for dinner this evening – even though it was at their house and she hadn't really had any choice anyway – and then slammed her locker shut after grabbing her books out. Elena hugged her sister happily and then bid her goodbye, walking off to her best friends: Caroline and Bonnie.

A pair of hands covered her eyes suddenly, and out of instinct she nearly turned around at her vampire speed and snapped the person's head. But the voice that whispered in her ear, stopped her just in time. "Boo!" A deep voice vibrated through her ear and with a smirk she turned around. "Hey, Ty!" She happily exclaimed and Tyler smiled back at her. Even though she didn't like boys enough to be in a relationship with, she did like them as friends. She at least liked them a lot better than girls, less drama. Not that she had anything against having girls as friends, because she in fact did have a few, she just liked hanging out with guys more. Which surprised a few people, because Leah was a typical girly girl. Caring about her hair, make up and basically her entire appearance. She was really neat and classy when it came to clothes. Always making sure that everything matched well for the right occasion. As for school, she wore a pair of black skinny jeans, a white blouse covered with a light blue blazer today.

"What class do you have?" He asked her as they started walking. "Math, you?" She asked him, noticing the few girls that passed by stared at him. He was quite a popular guy. "Biology, so gotta enter here." He said, stopping in front of a classroom. "See you later!" He said with a smile and she smiled as well, "Yeah, see ya!" She said and with a slight speed in her pace she hurried off to class, entering just in time before the second bell.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Leah said as she was cutting tomatoes. "Well, I appreciate it. I really like him, so I think it's important that you meet him." Elena said and put a few plates on the dining table. Leah snorted, "So, he's '_the one_'?" She scoffed and Elena tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "I don't know, maybe. I guess we'll find out." She said and Leah released a deep sigh when she heard the doorbell ring. "That must be Stefan." Elena said, stating the obvious and walked to the door, opening it. Leah tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as well, allowing herself to listen to their probably highly boring conversation. _"Hey," _Elena chimed and a kissing sound was heard. _"Hey, thanks for inviting me for dinner." _A male voice spoke and Leah assumed it must be Stefan. _"Be careful, my sister isn't very fond of boyfriends." _She heard Elena and Stefan chuckle and rolled her eyes.

Then she heard footsteps and when he turned around the corner she finally got to see him, his dark blonde hair glistened in the light and a small smile formed on his lips. They shook hands and she was caught in the emotion in his eyes. He looked honestly confused, like he had seen her before, but didn't expect to see her ever again.

"Let's take a seat." Elena spoke up, interrupting the questions that formed in her head. They all took a seat, Elena positioned in the middle so Leah and Stefan were facing each other. They started to eat, and very slowly they started a conversation. Stefan told them that he visited his uncle every year and Leah quietly listened to all he had to say. He was in the midst of talking about joining the football team, when a strong smell of blood hit her nostrils. A slight hiss was heard and before she could help it, the veins underneath her eyes started to throb and became thicker, allowing them to be seen. Her fangs started to appear and when she looked in front of her, she saw the same thing happening to Stefan. The only difference was, that within a few seconds he had control again, and the veins retreated and he was now helping Elena's bleeding finger. Leah excused herself real quick, and heard Elena apologize, telling Stefan that Leah couldn't handle blood very well.

Leah hurried outside, sitting on the porch, trying to control her breathing. When she had finally found her control, she could feel her face turning normal again and the questions came flooding back. A certain question very prominent on her mind: Was Elena dating a vampire? 

_**A/N: **So, I hope you liked it! A short introduction. Damon still has to appear, and I promise that he will do so soon! So stay tuned and thanks for reading!_


	2. Getting answers

_**If I Die Young**_

**Chapter 2: Getting answers**

_**A/N: I don't own anything except for my OC. Any grammatical mistakes are mine. **Also, I'm sorry for not updating in a while. Last week the roads were all covered in ice where I live, and I fell off my bike, nearly breaking my arm, so I had to recover from that. Anyway, there is a moment that I copied the lines from the show, because it was necessary for the story. It's not much, so don't worry. Hope you enjoy!_

It had been three weeks since the dinner, and in those three weeks Leah had tried to find out whatever she could about Stefan, watching him in classes, whenever he was at home with Elena, trying to see anything that would give him away long enough for her to build up some confidence to confront him about it.

But, to no avail. Nothing gave him away, and that's why she was now standing in front of the Salvatore boarding house. She had once overheard Elena telling Alaric where she was staying, in case he would get worried, and she had never intended to actually go there herself, but she had no choice. She had to get answers. She was sick of dealing with this herself, and if Stefan really was a vampire, then that would mean that she could finally learn some self control. Because school bells weren't going to help her forever.

Her hand reached up, about to knock on the wooden door, but it suddenly opened, making her jump back slightly in shock. She had been so in thought that she hadn't been concentrating on any other sounds.

Leah looked at the person in front of her, it wasn't the person she expected to see. It was a black haired man with beautiful blue eyes in which you could stare all day long, if it wasn't for the smirk appearing on his face and the cocky voice coming out of his mouth: "I know I'm hot, but could you please close your mouth? Wouldn't want to get drool on my pretty little porch, now do we?"

Leah scraped her throat and closed her mouth, her eyebrow raising slightly: he was a pretty confident guy. "Yeah, whatever. Anyway, I was looking for Stefan Salvatore, but I think I must have gotten the wrong address." She said and he shook his head, offering her his hand with a smirk. "Damon Salvatore, Stefan's big brother. Come in, if you'd like." He said and she shook his hand, "Leah Gilbert." She replied and his eyebrows raised slightly, "Gilbert, hmm? Sister of Elena?" He wondered out loud and she released a loud sigh, "Twin, actually." She said and placed one foot on the doorstep, satisfied when she could enter.

She had noticed out of the corner of her eyes that he had watched her, and then closed the door when she was fully inside. "Didn't know Elena had a twin sister, it does explain why you look so much like her." He said and Leah sighed frustrated, mumbling a simple yes, not even bothering anymore to tell people that they weren't that much alike.

"Well, Stefan will be home soon, but I got a few errands to do. So, make yourself at home." He said and she nodded, "Thanks." She nonchalantly said as she looked around the room: it was very neat, and rather old looking. She liked it.

"It was nice meeting you, Leah." He said, the smirk reappearing and Leah nodded, "Yeah, nice meeting you too." She said and watched him walking out of the door. She had to admit, he was hot and he had a great amount of confidence and so far an amazing sense of sarcasm. She smiled cockily, she liked him already.

She walked around what she assumed was the living room, and took a seat in a big red chair. Her fingers lightly tapping the fabric on the chair, patiently waiting for Stefan to come home.

Not so long after, she heard the rustling of the front door, and when he stepped into her sight, she lunged at him with her vampire speed. She could feel the veins popping up beneath her eyes, and her fangs starting to appear. "Listen to me very carefully." She threateningly said, holding his throat in a death grip, pushing him against the wall.

"You're gonna be a good boy, telling me what you really are." She said, her head slightly turning to the right, creating a dark shadow on her face. "You're just like me, aren't you?" She said, her grip loosening slightly, allowing him to answer.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He croaked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Leah laughed dryly, "Stop lying!" She said, raising her voice, her grip tightening again. "I saw your face! It was just like mine!"

"No.. it wasn't." He managed to say, his breath shaking. "Yes, it was!" Leah screamed and with a sudden force she was pushed away. Her back crashed against the ground and with a loud growl Stefan jumped on her, grabbing her by her neck, his fangs were now clearly visible, the veins underneath his eyes showing.

Leah stopped fighting, her anger washing away. She just stared at him, a sudden relief coursing through her body. She wasn't alone anymore, there were others just like her. Stefan got off of her when he had calmed down and offered her his hand, which she accepted gladly and got pulled up.

Footsteps were heard and both vampires turned their heads, and saw Elena walking into the room, "Stefan, tell me wha-" The words faded out when she saw her sister and her boyfriend standing there, and a confused wrinkle showed on her forehead. "What's going on in here?" She asked and Stefan sighed. "I guess you both want answers as to what happened at the car crash."

"Stefan.." Elena said, and then looked at Leah. Leah just rolled her eyes, and walked over to Elena with vampire speed. A surprised gasp came out of Elena's mouth, "How..?" was all that she managed to get out. "You're not the only one wanting to know what happened, now, let him talk." Leah said angrily, not wanting to waste her time on useless questions that only Stefan had answers to.

"Every couple of years I come back here, to see Zack and see my home. And last spring, I was out in the woods, by old Wickery bridge and I heard the accident. All of it." Stefan said, and Leah turned around, grabbing both Elena's and Leah's attention.

"I was fast getting there, but not fast enough. The car was already submerged.." His voice died out, and waited for a few seconds before continuing. "Your dad, he was still consciousness, I was able to get to him, but he wouldn't let me help him. Until I helped the both of you." He said and Leah heard Elena gasping, and noticed a few tears rolling down her cheeks. "I-I don't understand.." Leah said, and both heads turned to her. "I was consciousness as well, at least consciousness enough to tell you to save Elena, not me." Leah said, "What?" Elena said surprised. "I was supposed to die.. but, how come that I survived?" Leah softly said, trying to keep the tears from falling down. She was so close to getting answers, and it was quite scary.

"When I first saw you, I was wondering the same thing. It didn't take me long to figure out that you had turned into a vampire, but that didn't give me any clarification on how you survived." Stefan said, scrunching his face in confusion. "You see, in order to turn into a vampire, you have to die with vampire blood in your system." Stefan said, and then quietly finished his sentence, "But I never gave you any."

Leah blinked a few times, dumbfounded. "But, then.. who did?" She wondered out loud, and a voice made all the heads turn to him. "Yeah.. that would be my fault." Damon said, walking into the room. His movements were casual, but his face looked rather serious. "What?" Everyone said, all in the same tone of disbelief.


End file.
